Political Quotes

“This is the fourth attempt, I say to my good friends, the fourth attempt to cut the defense budget that we have debated here on this floor of the Senate within just the past 30, say, legislative days. All previous attempts have been declined by the Senate. The arguments on both sides are well known. We have shared them here today. I am not sure why we are spending more time, indeed, on this issue, on this important piece of legislation which is badly needed. The position of the Senate is clear. Now, the chairman, Chairman Thurmond, and the distinguished ranking member--and I join with him in this effort--are going to come forward to bring in a reduction, calculated at roughly $1.7 billion, to reconcile this bill's overall spending with the budget resolution. That is a responsible approach to reduction in spending, and it will have my strongest support. Even with the increases in the defense budget made by the Budget Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, the defense budget will continue to decline in real terms in fiscal 1997.”